Shopping in Tokyo
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Kiddyland
Six floors of appealing products for your children to fall in lust with and which you may still be paying for next year. In fact, you yourself may be seduced by plastic-bobbled barrettes, Pokémon paraphernalia or nostalgia-inducers such as Hello Kitty or Ultraman and an entire Snoopy floor. Claustrophobes should avoid the store at weekends when it teems with teens.
reviewed
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Isetan
In addition to its stunning food hall in the basement, Isetan boasts an entire separate building for men’s fashions in addition to several floors of homewares and ladies’ designer goods. Check out the store’s I-club, a free service that provides English-speaking staff for visiting shoppers. The membership desk for this service is located on the 6th floor near the entrance to the Isetan Men’s building.
reviewed
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Daikanyama Address
Just northwest of Daikanyama Station, this small retail complex is notable for its clever suspension bridges and four dozen or so designer boutiques selling clothing, eyewear and other sartorially stylish accessories. The open-air plaza is a treat on quiet afternoons, and weekends tend to be relatively free of mad throngs of shoppers.
reviewed
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Ranking Ranqueen
Come here to find what young Japanese are nuts about – the hottest, quirkiest consumer products, ranked every month according to sales. The No 1 selling teeth whitener? They’ve got it. The best-selling bath salts, bottled tea, cellulite killers and tools to make your face look smaller are all here, too. Enjoy the madness.
reviewed
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A Bathing Ape
This A Bathing Ape Exclusive (Bape) outlet of the uberhip urban and hip-hop outfitter line is more like a museum than a shop, with fab sneakers on a rotating steel conveyor belt, mirrored surfaces and lots of sparkle. You can pick up Bape plastic models and some of the coolest bags in town.
reviewed
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Kanesō
This place has been selling knives since the early Meiji period. In a country where knives are a serious business, this shop is known as a favourite of the pros.
reviewed
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Tokyo Midtown
Like Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Midtown is a composite urban district of ultramodern buildings surrounding a historic Japanese garden. Following the same design and urban planning lines that made Roppongi Hills so successful, the Tokyo Midtown complex brims with sophisticated bars, restaurants, shops, art galleries, a hotel and leafy public spaces. Escalators ascend alongside man-made waterfalls of rock and glass, bridges in the air are lined with back-lit washi (Japanese handmade paper), and planters full of soaring bamboo draw your eyes through skylights to the lofty heights of the towers above. Separate from the myriad opportunities for parting with serious cash is Hinokich…
reviewed
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Mandarake Complex
When otaku dream of heaven, it probably looks a lot like this giant store. Mandarake has long been Tokyo’s go-to store for manga and anime, and its new Akihabara location is the largest yet. Eight storeys are piled high with comic books and DVDs, action figures and cel art just for starters. The 5th floor is devoted to women’s comics in all its pink splendour, while the 4th floor is for men. Mandarake’s original branch is in Nakano, and other branches include Shibuya and an entire Ikebukuro branch with manga for women.
reviewed
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Axis
Salivate over some of Japan’s most innovative interior design at this high-end design complex. Of the 16-odd galleries and retail shops selling art books, cutting-edge furniture and other objets d’art, highlights include Nuno, whose innovative fabrics incorporating objects from feathers to washi appear in New York’s Museum of Modern Art; Living Motif, with three floors of soothing, contemporary design (both Japanese and international) from cushions to candle holders; and Le Garage, with gear and accessories for motor-racing enthusiasts.
reviewed
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Kamawanu
Looking for a unique, compact present from Japan? Kamawanu specialises in tenugui, dyed rectangular cloths of thin cotton, which are surprisingly versatile. These beautifully patterned kerchiefs – motifs take in everything from Mt Fuji to musical notes and skeletons – can be used as decorative art, bath towels, scarves or gift wrap. Turn down the little street to the right of the post office; it’s in a traditional building. Other locations include Omote-Sandō, beneath the Ukiyo-e Ōta Museum of Art.
reviewed
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Matsuya
Ginza is the poshest shopping district in Tokyo. The quintessential Ginza experience is a department store; Mitsukoshi has pride of place, but Matsuya is a long-standing favourites, too. Tucked in between some of the more imposing facades are more simple pleasures such as fine papers and shelves stacked full of ingenious toys. Shopping options here really do reflect the breadth and depth of the city’s consumer culture, equal parts high fashion glitz and down-to-earth dedication to craft.
reviewed
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Tokyo Character Street
From Doraemon to Domo-kun, Hello Kitty to Ultraman, Japan knows kawaii (cute) and how to merchandise it. On the basement level of Tokyo Station, some 15 Japanese TV networks and toy manufacturers operate shop after shop selling official plush toys, sweets, accessories and the all-important miniature character to dangle from your mobile phone. Though the commerce is brisk, the characters are pretty innocent; fans of hard-core anime (Japanese animation) will be better off in Akihabara.
reviewed
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Takashimaya
Takashimaya’s branch on New York’s Fifth Avenue is renowned for its cutting-edge Japanese-inspired interior, but the design of the Tokyo flagship store (1933) tips its pillbox hat to New York’s Gilded Age. There is floor after floor of international luxury brands, a Japanese craft and kimono section on the 7th floor and uniformed female elevator operators – once commonplace in Tokyo – who still announce each floor in high-pitched sing-song voices.
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Musubi
Before shopping bags, Japanese carried their bentō (boxed lunch) and packages in elegant wrapping cloths called furoshiki, and this dainty shop and workshop both sells the cloths and gives lessons in how to use them (email info@kyoto-musubi.com for info about lessons). Modern-day uses for furoshiki include handbags and wine bottle carriers, and believe it or not they make nice table covers, too. The owner has even written a book about it in English.
reviewed
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Tsukumo Robotto Ō-Koku
Fancy a bipedal humanoid robot? Or would a talking Hello Kitty do the trick? Japan’s first robotto (robot) shop (2000) is at the forefront of the home robot revolution; also sells DIY robot kits. It’s one of several ō-koku (kingdoms) in the Tsukumo building, which also includes a pasokon ō-koku (personal computer kingdom), a monitā-ō-koku (monitor kingdom) etc. Did we mention otaku love Akihabara?
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Nakamise-Dōri
Nakamise-dōri, the long, crowded pedestrian lane running from Kaminarimon gate to Hōzōmon gate, has more than 80 stalls that for centuries have been helping the Japanese people fulfil their gift-giving obligations. The wide alley is chock-a-block with small shops selling temple paraphernalia as well as traditional items of varying beauty and quality. It’s also the place to pick up locally made, salty sembei (rice crackers) and age-manju (deep-fried bean buns).
reviewed
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Nippori Nuno No Machi (Nippori Fabric Town)
If you’ve got a notion to sew, decorate or you like clothing on the cheap, this several-block stretch east of Nippori Station will hit you like a proverbial bolt. Dozens of shops purvey buttons to brocade, bathrobes and blankets, used kimono and contemporary wear. Many of the wares are off-price or remnants. If you’re seeking something particular, shop around before leaving home; some of the fabrics are generic and you might find better deals where you come from.
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Blue & White
Amy Katoh, the expat American behind this small crafts store, sells traditional and contemporary items such as tenugui, indigo-dyed yukata (light cotton kimono), bolts of nubby cloth, and painted chopsticks. Pick through tiny dishes of ceramic beads or collect bundled-up swatches of fabric for your own crafty creations. Katoh’s inspiration is the chubby, cherubic Japanese good-luck goddess Otafuku, who smiles from every corner of the shop.
reviewed
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Tōkyū Hands
This is Tokyo’s favourite DIY store, with hardware and materials for home projects. What defines it is the sheer diversity of eccentric goodies: clocks that tick backwards, hand-blown glass pens and vibrating reflexology slippers. This is eight floors of oddball, functional stuff you never realised you needed. If you hit one store during your stay, let this be it. There’s another huge store in Shinjuku’s Takashimaya Times Square.
reviewed
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Ameyoko Arcade
Ameya-yokochō, or Ameyoko, is one of the only old-fashioned outdoor markets in Tokyo. It's famous as a post-WWII black market and even now retains that throwback feel. Merchants call out to attract customers and open-air stalls display dried seafood, herbs and mushrooms. The Ameyoko Center Building contains stalls selling imported spices, produce and herbs from mainland Asia, and there are a few bargains on clothing and shoes in the area.
reviewed
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Yoshitoku
Once known as doll maker to the emperor, Yoshitoku has been crafting and distributing dolls since 1711. The 1st floor is filled with miniatures that depict kabuki actors, hina (princess dolls displayed for the Girl’s Day holiday, 3 March) and samurai (for Boy’s Day, 5 May), geisha and sumō wrestlers in minute detail and exquisite dress. Figures are designed with the serious collector in mind.
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Mitsukoshi
Though there are branches of this department store in Ginza and Ebisu, the Nihombashi branch has the cachet as Japan’s first department store –it even has a subway station named after it. Check out the floor dedicated to the art of the kimono or peruse the morsels in the depachika (department store food floor). For the full effect, arrive at 10am for the bells and bows that accompany each day’s opening.
reviewed
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Hakuhinkan
This layer cake of a ‘toy park’ is crammed with this year’s models of character toys, the hottest squawking video games, seas of colourful plastic, the softest plush toys ever invented, even a model racetrack (¥200 per five minutes, plus ¥100 car rental) on the 4th floor. If you arrive after hours, a few dozen top-selling toys are available from vending machines outside the store.
reviewed
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Loft
Loft’s multiple levels of housewares, accessories, travel supplies and stationery are more compact than at Tōkyū Hands and, aimed towards younger shoppers, the bias leans towards fun and oddities. Stylish bedding and blob-shaped vases distract the shopper from titanium jewellery and trendy make-up before the kawaii plastic toys and mobile-phone charms do ‘em in. Another branch is in Ikebukuro.
reviewed
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Venus Fort
Outside, this giant mall in Palette Town looks like a giant box. Inside, it’s a faux Italian villa with staged sunrises and sunsets and over 150 shops. The 1st floor is family themed, the 2nd ‘Venus Grand’ floor is fancy stuff particularly for ladies, while in a sign of the times the 3rd floor is Tokyo’s largest outlet mall with brands from Japan and overseas including Armani, Coach and United Arrows.
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